26
by oujo
Summary: The Naruto characters when they are around 26. Naruto becomes Hokage, while Sakura searches for Sasuke.I have basically almost all the characters in here, it would just take a while to summarize all of them. Some spoilers.
1. Celebrations

Sakura stared gloomily at the water below. How long had it been now...? Sakura's last moment of Sasuke was seen through tears. She had tried many times to see him in the last nine years, chasing him in every country.

"Sakura, guess what!" Naruto cried as he sprinted up to her.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"I've become the sixth Hokage!" Naruto practically screamed.

"Congratulations, Naruto" Sakura said, her heart just a little bit lighter...for now.

"I'm gonna go tell everyone now, are you gona be okay?"

"I'll be fine Naruto" Sakura said, smiling.

Sakura now gazed at the sky. Ino sat on a bench close by. She had gotten over Sasuke within a year, and soon after that Shikamaru and her had found something more than friendship or being teammates. But, Ino and Sakura had never reconciled.

Chouji sat beside Shikamaru, eating what else, but a bag of potato chips. Suddenly, a sickening feeling permeated through the summer air, going down everyone's throat, and inciting a tight knot that could only mean one thing: Gaara was there.

Temari stepped forward," The allies of Konoha have come to celebrate the new Hokage."

"That was fast," said Shikamaru"We just found out."

"The village hidden in the sand told us a few days ago"

"Naruto's been on a mission the past few days, remember?" asked Ino.

"Well, where is the new Hokage?" said Kankurou.

"He just left in that direction" said Sakura. The sand ninjas walked away to find Naruto.

Later that evening, Sakura was trudging home, when Naruto called from the Ramen stand,"Hey Sakura! I wanted to ask you something.Sakura walked into the crowded ramen stand, and Naruto said to the man sitting next to him" Hey, could you move for just a second so my friend Sakura can sit down?" Sakura sat. "I was thinking, since I've just become the sixth Hokage, aand your birhtday is coming up, why don't we throw a huge party for both of them."

Sakura knew Naruto wanted this, so she accepted. She was still his friend, after all.Now, let me explain what Sakura had been doing all these years, besides from being a med ninja, she sat in the back of her apartment inventing new weapons. She had invented close combat weapons, like one that had spinning kunai knifes, and one that was somewhat like Rasengan, except it twisted your enemy's insides, all of which she carried around in a sack on her back. Yes, this inventing could have been what kept her from dropping herself off a cliff.

Or maybe it was her determination to see Sasuke.


	2. Angel of the Hyuugas

It was the morning of the party, and Hinata was cooking breakfast.Shino, her husband, walked in.

" Good morning, Shino" she said. She had lost her stutter awhile ago, but Shino still did not talk much.

" Hinata, do you want to go to Naruto's celebration tonight?"

"Yes" said Hinata. She served Shino with breakfast, and they both exited their home in the Hyuuga compound together.

Finally, the night came, and everyone was there.

TenTen scanned the crowd looking for someone she knew, a particular someone actually. Then, in the middle of a conversation with Neji about where that someone would be, she spotted him.

"Lee!" she shrieked, jogging and throwing herself into his arms, leaving Neji to look for someone as well.

"T-TenTen" Lee said. After nine years, he looked like an almost complete replica of Gai.

"Let's dance" she said, smiling.

Meanwhile, Hinata was talking to Naruto. "I knew you would make it, Naruto" she said, no longer with her hands infront of her face.

"Thanks, Hinata." Naruto said with a grin.

Neji strode up to Hinata, "I need to talk to you alone.

Hinata followed timidly. After all these years, Neji was still cold and terrifying, especially to Hinata.

Neji led her into a dark room ( I know htis is random, but Neji wears leather pants now)

Neji pushed her up against the wall and forcefully kissed her.

"Neji!" Hinata screamed, trying to push him away. But he pushed harder. She finallt succeeded.

"Neji, I'm married!" Hinata siad, tears were staring to fill her eyes.

"Hmph, you never told me that" he struggled to put his mouth back onto hers

It was true. Hinata had gotten married in secret, after her dad died. But she hadn't been expecting this.

Neji undid his hair, letting it flow over his shoulders. He fought to get her clothes off, while she did her best to shove him off of her and run away. Butshe was feeble, she would always be feeble compared to him.

"Off of her, Hyuuga" said a voice from the now open doorway. It was Shino, hsi bugs were swarming over him already.

"Byakugan! "

"Byakugan! "

Shino and Neji turned to see Hinata, who jsut used Byakugan.

The bugs flew at him, but he used his almost-perfect defense. He spun around, and the bugs were killed.

"I can't get him from behind either" Shino thought.

Hinata charged, and it resembled something like the third Chuunin exam's preliminary matches. Bugs were crawling up Neji, but he shot out Chakra all over his body. Hinata took that opportunity to strike. Then, since Neji was having trouble fighting two at once, he used his divine sixty-four strike(or whatever its called) on Shino.

"Eight. Stab, hit Sixteen. Thud, stab. Thirty-two. Stab, hit."

"Neji, stop!"

It was Naruto, and Kiba walked in after him. "We've been looking for you two, and we got worried after Shinao had been gone for way too long.

Neji didn't leave the room until he was done with Shino. Afterwards, he fired Chakra along his body to kill any bugs.

They all went back to the party.


	3. The party continued

Kiba's band played the whole night. He was very pleased that he had a crowd this large, all waiting for his music to crash through the air, even audible from the outside of the shining, gold- stone walls.

"Arf!" Akamaru the second barked happily into the microphone.

Tenten plowed her way through the throng up to the stage, dragging a confused Lee, and she shouted "play something fast!" Kiba nodded. Tenten thrust Lee backwards and they started to dance.

"Tenten, you've definintely changed since the last time I saw you" Lee said over the blaring music. He was ectastic, though, to have Tenten dance with him.

Neji leaned up against the side of the stage, his hair still undone. He needed to relax after using that much Chakra.

"So," Kiba yelled, turning away from the microphone mid-lyric, "What happened between you and Hinata back there?"

Neji was about to respond, when some man roared from the crowd "Kiba, start singing!" Kiba turned back to the microphone.

Gaara watched the ants from above, at his place in the balcony. Temari and Kankurou were rigid behind him, only their eyes moving as they exchanged frantic glances, theorizing what Gaara would do.

You're probably pondering what the sand ninja were like now. Not much had changed; Temari and Kankurou still had to watch over Gaara and his boiling, murderous intent. Gaara turned and went down the stairs, while Temari and Kankurou followed anxiously.

They arrived at the dance floor. Gaara's glaring eyes sweeped the room. He did not want to set foot upon the dancefloor, so he stood near the wall.

At eight'o clock, Naruto rised form the long table at the end opposite of the door, microphone in hand.

"As you all know, we're here to celebrate my becoming the sixth Hokage!" Naruto yelled into the microphone, deafening everyone. After rubbing their ears from that, they all applauded raucously."But, we're also celebrating another important event. Sakura-chan's birhtday!" Naruto tugged Sakura's arm, hauling her to her feet."Stand up!"

Sakura stood up hesitantly, blushing a little, while pink and red streamers bloated and plummeted from the ceiling. More applause and cheers thundered from the crowd. Naruto ended the speech there, knowing everyone would rather party, and so would he.

Gaara watched all the dancing couples taciturnedly, an agitated expression on his face. Suddenly, a man asked Temari to dance, leaving Kankurou, to his dismay, alone with his brother.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru thought, listening to the music and Ino's constant chattering with other Kunoichi. He didn't like big parties, unlike Ino, but it was Naruto's inauguration. Ino clamped onto Shikamaru's wrist." Let's dance" she ordered. In the earlier years of their relationship, Shikamru would have said lazily"I'm not dancing with you", which resulted in arguments. But now he just sighed and followed Ino. Chouji sat in a chair and shared a bag of ships with his wife. Then, Hinata and Shino sat down near him.

"Are...you going to be okay?" Shino asked quietly.

"I-I'll be fine" Hinata whispered. She was still reminiscing about what had happened.

At eleven'o clock, a ten-foot high chocolate cake streamed through the doorway. "Everyone upstairs for cake!" said Naruto joyously. A tide swelled towards the stairs, and there was not one person who didn't want a piece of the towering cake, except maybe Gaara.

Upstairs, everyone was seated in a room as big as the cavernous downstairs, at tables with white tablecloths. At Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino's table, you could hear Ino saying" just a small piece" followed by Shikamaru's sigh.

At the other end of the room, Kiba and Akamaru the second buried their faces in cake, while Shino watched, disgusted, in perfect silence.

Once again, Naruto and Sakura ate at along, narrow white table at the front. Naruto pulled out a candle, plopped it into Sakura's cake, and lit it. "Happy birhtday, Sakura-chan" he said" make a wish!"

Sakura stared at the single, glowing candle. Her only wish that she ever made was to see Sasuke. Every birthday, that was her wish. She, for the ninth time, made that wish.

Gaara's merciless gaze shredded at the piece of cake.

"Are you going to eat?" exclaimed Kankurou. Temari had gone to eat with the man who had asked her to dance.

After eating, everyone came up to congratulate Naruto if they hadn't already, and if they knew Sakura they gave her presents.

First was Kakashi." Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto and Sakura had said at the same time.

"Hello" Kakashi had said."I...didn't know it was Sakura's birhtday."

"Its okay, Kakashi-Sensei-"Sakura said, before being interrupted by Naruto.

"I know what you can give Sakura!""Show us your face!"

"Alright" he said. He reached and pulled off his mask...

"Wow!" said Sakura.

"Yeah, he looks great, doesn't he?" Anko walked up and stood next to Kakashi. Iruka walked up also.

"I'm proud of you, Naruto" Iruka said, giving him a warm smile."But I'm afraid of I don't have anything for you, Sakura."

"That's okay, Iruka-Sensei"

The sand ninja came up to once again say congratulations, and then they left the party. But then, someone unexpected dropped by.

"Idate!" shouted Naruto and Sakura.

"I heard that you, Naruto, had become Hokage, and I wanted to see it for myself." he said.

"Even if it risked your freedom?""Thank you so much!" he said."I'll never forget this Idate!" Idate turned to leave, while fiddling with his knife, when Naruto said, "Wait, Idate! Since I'm Hokage, I know the perfect thing I can do for you!"

"And what is that?"

"I'm going to pardon you for what happened when you were a genin!"

"R-Really?" his eyes widened with shock. Naruto nodded."Thank you. And Sakura, I was going to give something to you for helping me out in the country of Tea. He unsheathed his knife, "I want to give this to you, it was given to me by someone important who saved me, so take good care of it." Sakura nodded. Idate stayed there until Naruto and Sakura left.

Next were Lee and Tenten, who were holding hands, which made Naruto and Sakura nearly retaste their cake.

"Sakura-chan, I wanted to give you these. He held out a bouquet of cherry blossoms and cosmos, one cosmos of which was placed in Tenten's unpinned hair.

"And I got you these" she held out old pictures of Sasuke she had found.

"Thanks" Sakura said, remembering so many memories.

Then it was Neji's turn, who had gotten her tools that were used to make ninja weapons.

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino presented Sakura with an expensive pink kimono and a short red one too.

Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino were the last to give presents. Chouji gave her free tickets to her favorite restaurant. But it was Ino's gift that stood out. She reached into her pocket and pulled out...Sakura's old bow. Sakura gasped.

"Now that we're not rivals anymore...I wanted to give this back to you." Sakura clasped it in her hands.


	4. Troublesome

Shikamaru sighed when he realized he was almost where his squad was supposed to meet. He had Kakashi and Anko's daughter Arisu, Chouji's daughter Ayaka, and if it was dreadful enough to have two teenage girls, he had his own daughter Minako, or Mina, in his squad.

"Shika-sensei!" chimed all three girls.

"How troublesome" Shikamaru muttered.

Naruto glanced upwards for one second, to see Idate springing quickly from roof to fucking roof.

"Hey, Idate!" he cried. Naruto leaped, and in a few moments had caught up with him. "Idate, what are you- "Idate interrupted.

"It's so nice to be back in Konoha" he said, eying appreciatively everything in the village. "Oh, sorry Naruto. What were you going to say?"

"I was just wondering why you were in a hurry."

"Oh, I'm looking for someone."

"Maybe I can help. What's their name?"

"I don't know. She never told me."

"Well, what did she look like?"

Idate thought back to the girl l he had met. "She was tall and blonde, and she was from the village hidden in the sand."

Naruto knew only one Kunoichi from sand.

"You must be talking about Temari. But I don't know where she is."

After ten minutes, a torrent of wind slashed through the forest like blades through flesh.

"She's over there. Where did you two meet, anyways?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"We met at the celebration" he cried over the wind. They were in the woods now, jumping from branch to branch. Then, as they got within proximity of Temari, they stalked cautiously through the woods, paranoid of what Gaara would do if they were to sneak up and he heard them... Idate still remembered the man with the sour, fierce expression and blood-red hair.

They peered out from behind a tree trunk into the clearing where the sand ninja were training.

"You...might not want to talk to her while her brother is around" said Naruto.

"Unfortunately, Kankurou was standing close enough to hear them.

"You, in the tree, come out now" Kankurou said fiercely. Naruto and Idate walked out slowly. Temari stared at Idate.

"Hello" Temari said, concealing her excitement.

"Is this why you wanted to stay in Konoha for a few more days, Temari?" Kankurou asked. Gaara stared at Idate.

"What is your name" said Gaara coldly.

"Morino Idate."

"Gaara, what do you think of this" Kankurou said.

"I don't care."

Temari smiled inside. "I'm done training then" she said, striding over to Idate.

"I had forgotten to ask...what is your name?" Idate asked curiously.

"Temari."

They breezed through the treetops. Naruto departed when the reached the village's edge.

"Bye, Idate and Temari!" Naruto bellowed. "I have to go to my first day of being Hokage!"

Shikamaru sighed for the tenth time. It was troublesome to go on missions with this particular squad. When Mina wasn't talking to Ayaka while he was trying to talk, or just being lazy, she was causing more trouble with Ayaka. And Arisu was a completely different story. She was always wandering off and flirting with boys, something he did not want to see. Just today, they were on the way to their location of the mission, and he lost Arisu to a group of older guys. She was extremely different from her parents. After that, Mina and Ayaka sat down on a log, saying that they didn't feel like a mission today.

"Then why did you become ninjas?" he asked exasperately. They all shrugged.

Now, Shikamaru plodded along behind them, mentally and emotionally exhausted. He dropped off Ayaka and Mina, who was sleeping over at her house.

Tenten and Lee walked hand in hand into the sunset, which made everyone gag. They sat down at the ramen stand, where Naruto was eating dinner.

"Tenten, Lee! Come eat, I can get you free food!"

"Free?" Tenten said.

"Yeah, since I'm Hokage, remember?" They sat, and Lee asked "So, Naruto, what is being Hokage like?"

"Hmm, well, it is a lot of hard work!" They conversed about their missions, and Naruto's day. When the moon glowed in the sky, Tenten and Lee walked home. On the way, they passed the Uchiha compound, or what was left of it, but they noticed a figure blotted out the pinpricks of light called stars. A breeze whispered past, and it moved. "It seems to be hanging form the pole. Tenten, you stay here and I'll investigate. Tenten knew, whatever it was, he would be okay.

But there was no need to worry. Lee bounded up to the pole and balanced himself ontop.

"W-Who is this?" Lee ogled at the corpse. "I-is this...no...It can't be Sasuke!"

Lee rapped on Naruto's door. "Naruto!" he cried into the stifling air.

"Naruto opened the door in his pajamas. "Lee, what is it?"

"Naruto, is this Sasuke's remains?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Naruto bent over to examine the fresh corpse. He looked at the face, and the clothes were awfully familiar...

Lee smashed the door open. He had wandered away to warn everyone in Konoha that a powerful murderer could be out there. Sakura knocked Lee out of the way hysterically, frantic tears running down her face.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" she screamed, galloping over to the body, where she sobbed.

"S-Sakura?" She didn't cease crying. "S-Sakura, that's not Sasuke."

"W-What?"

"That is not Sasuke; that's his brother, Itachi."

Sakura flung herself away from the dead Itachi. She looked up, noticing Naruto's concerned expression. "Lee, where did you find this again?"

"He was hanging by his neck from a pole in the middle of the Uchiha compound, Hokage-sama."

Naruto said" I'm suspicious that Sasuke might be here..."

"WHAT!" roared Sakura.

"Well, it was always his goal to kill his brother...and we don't know how much stronger he had gotten."

Sakura slammed her fist on a nearby table. "Naruto, if you want me to go on a mission to look for him, I'd be happy to do it!"

"Are you sure Sakura?"

"Yes, dammit!" No one had ever seen Sakura this provoked before.

"Ok, but I'm not letting you go by yourself." Naruto still remembered what happened at the valley of the end.

"No, you _will_ let me go alone" she said coldly.

Naruto scratched his head. "Ok."

"How do you do it, Kakashi?" Shikamaru asked Kakashi as he walked to work.

"Do what?"

"Deal with that daughter of yours." Shikamaru sighed.

Kakashi shrugged. Shikamaru turned the corner, wondering why Arisu was so different from Kakashi or Anko. "I guess not all children turn out like their parents" he thought.

Gaara walked through the suffocating Konoha streets. He detested this many people being around him, all noticing him...

The new mission for Shikamaru's team was to just simply escort two people to the land of Tea. But even Arisu could mess that up...

They were walking through Tea, walking through a post town on the way to Amegakure, when Arisu had walked into a building full of men. She streamed out of the building a few minutes later, screaming, and "Stay away from me! I'm sorrrry!" He had asked what had happened, but she refused to say.

Gaara was away from Temari and Kankurou at the moment. The sun was setting, and the full moon would be out soon. Today had been mundane for him, he just sauntered steadily through Konoha, he needed ...to prove his existence.

He just had to wait three minutes until the perfect person came up. A sound ninja that was around the same age as he was,was playing target practice with his Shuriken, and the shuriken would have hit Gaara in the head if it wasn't for his sand. Even worse, the sound ninja thought it was hilarious that he had nearly hit the "panda" as he called Gaara, in the head.

Gaara turned solemnly around, while the sand encompassed the sound ninja's body. Gaara annihilated him with one turn of his had "Desert Coffin" he said, shattering the sound ninja mercilessly to particles the size of sand.

After that, Gaara wanted to be alone, so he rested in a tree on the border of Konoha. Thoughts of gore and crushing sand ran through his mind...

Naruto stared at the full moon from his solitary window. He was concerned for Sakura, who had already left for her mission. But something bothered him even more. Sasame gently opened the door.

"Hi Sasame-Chan" Naruto said.

"Are you worrying about Sakura?' He nodded. Sasame's feet padded softly over to Naruto. "I think she'll make it. It's not like this is the first time she's gone looking for Sasuke.

"That's true, but it is the first time she's gone by herself."

"Well, she is a very good medical ninja, and she does have some good weapons so-"

"She's not trying to kill Sasuke: she's trying to bring him back alive, which is more difficult than killing him" Naruto might have been able to kill Sasuke at the Valley of the end, but his shattered friendship had held him back.

Sasame didn't know Naruto could be this grave. "It's strange, Naruto usually believes in someone if they've got the determination and strength, or maybe..."

"Naruto, do you have something else on your mind?"

Naruto gazed directly at Sasame."Sasame, will you marry me?" He clutched the ring in his pocket.

"Yes! Yes, I will." Sasame said, her excitement breaking the silence.

Hinata slept peacefully, but there was someone at the Hyuuga estate that could not. Neji floated through the house without a sound, when he paused for just a nanosecond at Hinata's door. He walked on, harboring apathetic feelings for her ever since the party. He had moved on, but at the moment needed fresh air. He leaned against the wall in the courtyard, the faint perfume of cherry blossoms in the air. He sighed. He was in solitude for a few moments when Shino appeared from around the corner.

"You. Stay away from Hinata."

"I'm done with her." Neji opened his eyes."You can leave now."

"No."

Neji sighed. "Guess we'll settle this by force? You'll just end up like the night of the party."

A cloud of bugs rose from behind Neji. He had already activated Byakugan." I thought so."


	6. FIGHT!

Neji saw with his all –seeing eye the bugs as they steadily crawled toward him."That won't work." he said cooly.

Gliding towards Shino, the bugs flowed over Shino like waves. One stab on his arm, and bugs nawed away at his chakra. But its not over, his hand was thrust at Shino's heart, blocked by bugs starving for Chakra. Bugs like arrows sliced through the air, but too late, he was already spinning. Devastated insects whirled away, leaving Shino seemingly vulnerable. Neji swiftly lunged towards him, a new armada shooting from what seemed like no where. He spun again, with the same effect. Sharper this time, he successfully hit a vital organ.

A figure among stars whispered along the ground, he pivotted to see Hinata, both eyes blazing white. Afterwards, flashes of splendid dark blue, a whirring hand stabbing poison-blue chakra in him. Not enough, dodging and seizing her arm, she strained for release from his grasp. He spun; those tedious bugs were crawling up his shoes. She gracefully leaped backwards before the cyclone could slash. Block, block, block both of them in a violent dance. End it now; twin Yin Yangs, which will outshine the other? Perhaps its true destiny, these opposite Yin Yangs can't fit in the same space for long. He came to strike, but her palms were too fast. She pursued him, lashing all the way. But, a surprise, he corkscrewed into the ground, something she didn't expect. The Yin Yang apparated again, while she got up.

"Two strikes. Four strikes. Eight strikes."

Crimson bled from both mouths. Neji was exhausted; he picked her limp body up, and paused his hand before her heart. He had considered for a single moment to see her opaque eyes go out. But most of the time he had self-control. Except for that night when he let that side get the better of him...but no, he was not that type of person all the time. He fired a little chakra to kill bugs.

"Shino, give up. I'm not going to do that again. And you can never beat me." Neji hauled Hinata's body onto his shoulders.

"Where are you going?"

"To the hospital."

"I'm coming with you."

By seven that morning, everyone in Konoha knew about the Hokage's wedding. A small crowd of girls clogged the doorway to Naruto's office for they all needed to see the object of their jealousy. Sasame would get married to Konoha's Hokage, and have a magnificent wedding! It was ironic; these were the same women who shunned Naruto when he was a child.

"So, Naruto, when's the wedding?" Kiba asked after literally clawing his way through the horde.

"I don't know, a long time from now since we just celebrated being Hokage."

"Ok. What's my new mission?"

Hinata awoke from her deep sleep in the hospital bed. The nurse walked in, "She can leave now." she said in Shino's direction.

"Mina, be quiet. Someone could hear you." Shikamaru said exasperately.

"No one's going to mess with us!" He sighed.

Later on, Shikamaru just wanted to stab his eyes out. Arisu had snuck away again; she did extremely well in stealth. Alas, it still wasn't enough to trick Shikamaru. He walked to the closet where she was hiding; irritated that he had gotten stuck with her. When he squeaked the door open...

Arisu was inside doing "things" with a much older man. She shrieked, while he gouged at his eyes.

"Temari, when are we going leave this village?" Kankurou asked impatiently.

"One more day: I promise."


	7. Arisu

Sakura was pissed. She unsuccessfully completed her mission, leaving her with the same longing. Unpacking, she contemplated the past fourteen years. "I may not have another chance." she thought.

Arisu lounged behind a monstrous rock near a glistening lake. Last night, after coming back from a day's missions at sunset, she did not return home. She didn't plan to: all restrictions were enemies. Now, the sunlight was pins in her fragile skin.

"That damn squad leader" she thought ruefully. "He's too clever; he might even be catching up." The last twenty-four hours had been melting into one sexual encounter after another. Too many men and still not enough. "I'm surprised he hasn't caught up yet with all those "breaks" she thought, smiling. She attempted to get up and stretch, but she was frozen.

"There you are" Shikamaru said, a slight drowsyness to his irritated voice.

Arisu writhed, and then...a cloud of smoke revealing a log. She snickered from behind another towering rock. Then, and arm seized her.

"Hmph. Gotcha." Shikamaru called. "You didn't think I'd come alone, did you?" Her head twisted violently to see Chouji. Aggravated, her fists were poorly-aimed missiles.

Shikamaru's head turned just long enough to see a floating log. 'Wait a minute. That's not a log." His feet slid down the steep rocks, and lifted the bluiesh object. He gagged, his balance wavered.

Sakura stampeded her way to Naruto's office. Ino walked slowly passed, asking Sakura,"What's wrong?"

Sakura paused. "I didn't locate Sasuke." Immediately she ran furiously to her destination.

'Wait!" Ino cried before pursuing her.

"I'll come back" Temari said reassuringly. It was time for her to return to Sunagakagure.

"Bye" Idate murmured as calmly as he could.

Meanwhile, the Hyuuga household had become a cold, awkward hell. Just passing one another in the hall was enough torment. Shino and Neji were haunted by the other's icy stare. Hinata had narrowed her chalk-white eyes just as fiercely in Neji's direction once. But he just glanced at her and said"If I use Byakugan right now, would you maintain your expression?" Then her face softened slightly, so minute that only Neji would have noticed.

Sakura thrust the doors to Naruto's office open, Ino dying of exhaustion behind her, to perceive Shikamaru and Naruto in an important conversation.

'So-Oh, Sakura-chan, why are you here?"

"Have you found out anything about Sasuke?" her voice jumping an octave.

"You came at just the right time" said Shikamaru.

"What happened?" she slammed her fist on the nearest object, a glass vase.

Squinting at the glass, Shikamaru said" I found Kisame's remains at the lake."

"And that means Sasuke could still be here, right? Let me go look for him."\

He considered it for a few seconds, then said "Ok."

"I'll get going right away!" she aid with determination, sliding out the door. Ino twisted to follow her, but before that Shikamaru asked "I thought you were rivals?"

"That was a long time ago" she disappeared into the dim sunset.

That night, you could have found Arisu stalking out of the house. It had to be tonight, Kakashi was away on a mission, and she was too peacefully silent for Anko to hear her. Yes, peacefully silent except for her thoughts that surfaced from her mind. "I was no where near done on my "binge" she thought with another smile.

She sliced the night. "Too silent" she thought. She should have not even dared to wish that precious silence away. Shattering this tacit state was five Rain ninja, the same ones from the building she had caused a disturbance. She flew her Kunai which deflected off of theirs. But there was only one of her and five of them. Only one though had hit her in the side. Foolishly, she ran towards the woods in hoping of escape, instead of her house which would be safer. You see, she was the worst Shinobi Konoha had ever seen. One, two hours, three hours, going onto four she ran all night. Eventually, she reached a waterfal bordered by giant-sized statues. She turned to face them . "It's those same ninja from Amegakure. When she had ran shrieking out of the building, the reason she wouldn't tell Shikamaru was because she had been trying to pilfer money. She thought about her life, and one part in particular stuck in her mind. It was not too long ago, everyone had been pestering her about her promiscuity. "What if you messed up your life? " Or "this is unhealthy.' They'd always say something like that. And her same response was "I'll fix it later if it comes to that. But I'm perfectly fine.". Shuriken lashed at her skin, she ejected herself into the air, an imprudent move. A single kunai struck through her heart, leaving her half-alive body to plunge into the depths of a fitting name for her final stage, the Valley of the End.


	8. Chapter 8

Shikamaru was awoken in the middle of the night.

"Wake up. Arisu's missing."

He peered out through half-closed eyelids, to see Chouji. he muttered"How troublesome," but threw his clothes on. He looked over to see Ino still asleep.

Mina trudged sleepily through the doorway "What's going on?"

'Arisu's gone. I'm going to look for her." Shikamaru ran out as fast as he could.

"Does anyone have an idea where she went?"

"No" said Chouji. "Kakashi's still not back yet."

They searched all morning, and all afternoon. But the worst person to find her did.

Kakashi ran alongside a river, and noticed a body floating along with it. He waded through, and picked it up in his arms. He choked out a gasp, and headed for the village.

He was inside Naruto's office, when he let the deceased Arisu drop on the ground. Naruto sent someone to let the others know she was found dead.

"Kakashi-sensei, go take a day, as long as you want off." said Naruto. He trudged out, going back to his house to tell Anko.

The funeral was the next day, but there was nothing to say. She was a thief, and whore. She was...dirt. A clog of dirt that would be buried in the dirt. Mina's hair was undone, it fell over her face like the tide, rising and falling with her sobs.

"F-Father, I know she wasn't good, but she was still my teammate..."

Shikamaru turned his head, "I know."

"Why won't someone say something? Isn't there supposed to be a eulogy?"

"We...don't know what to say." he said, wincing.

"But, she was still a part of this village, wasn't she? Aren't we supposed to be a family? She did screw up, but, I still want her back." she said remorsefully.

Naruto had overheard the whole conversation. While he did, he thought, "Sakura, I hope you bring Sasuke back."

Sakura had come across a stream, so she decided to walk across, on top of the water. Now, she walked barefoot, causing small ripples. It was peacefully silent, as she emerged into a field. But she heard a snap, and then the sound of her splashing through the water.

"So, Itachi and Kisame's deaths were sort of like omens?" Sasame asked.

"Yes, that is why I think Sasuke is back, since they were displayed like that." Naruto concluded.

"Oh." Sasame said, ending their talk about why Naruto thought Sasuke was back.

Sakura's eye cracked open. Her eyelids were heavy, and she felt like sleeping more. She opened her eyes though, Sasuke was not with her yet. Wildflowers appeared in speckles across the field she lay in now. Colorful butterflies contrasted with the long, dim stalks of grass. A cabin lay at the corner of this field, which was surrounded by trees. She had now recalled being knocked out. Then, she realized she was moving, but she was still lying down. Someone was carrying her, as she peered upwards to see who that person was, she hadn't noticed how much closer the cabin was. They kicked open the door, and let her drop to her feet.

The cabin was dim, except for the sunshine that flowed lazily from the windows. Turning to see who had taken her, he lifted her head, and kissed her. In that flash of her first view of meeting her abductor, she knew who it was.

It was Sasuke.

The dust that flowed with the sunlight, seemed to move slower. Everything moved slower, and air just stood still.

Author's notes: That ended in a weird way, didn't it? But things do that sometimes, without even a reason( I sound weird.). A short chapter, and I haven't updated in a week. It's going to be hard writing the next one.


	9. Chapter 9

Sakura awoke from her deep sleep. She was still in the cabin, and the sun was just as golden as when she fell asleep. Sasuke was awake, leaning against the wall.

"Sasuke, what happened? Will you come back to Konoha?" Did you kill Itachi?"

"Calm down. I chased Itachi for years, and I killed him. Murdered him and Kisame...like he murdered my clan."

"What about coming back? What about Naruto?" Sasuke said nothing. "What about coming back?" she repeated.

"Do you think I can really come back? After what I did?"

"You don't understand! We all...missed you."

"Can they really overlook what they went through just for me? Can they forgive fourteen years of suffering –"

"If I can, then they can!"

"Have you...really forgotten? Are you really that forgiving? When you wanted to see me, did you actually want to see me or punch me in the face?" Sakura pondered for a minute."No." she said simply. "We'll all forgive you. Why do you think we searched for you? To punish you? No! We searched because your one of our own!"

"I'm not coming back."

'Don't you trust me? If you won't come back, I'll become an outlaw with you! Just like I said the night you left!" Sakura was on her feet, shaking. "If we wanted you dead, I would kill you right here."

Sasuke snickered. "If you're anything like I remember, you won't get very far."

"If I'm anything like you remember, you know I'm not stupid to chase after a powerful ninja alone. And I am clearly alone."

"How do I know they won't blow down the door any minute?"

"You don't. You have to trust me.'

"I'll think about it." he said.

Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou once again were heading down the road that leads into Konoha.

"Temari," Kankurou started irritably,"You should make up your mind to stay in Sunakagure or not."

"I've already decided." she said just as irritably. "But are you sure you can handle Gaara?" she whispered under her breath, not desiring Gaara to hear and crush them all.

"I'll be fine."

Ino couldn't stop worrying about Sakura. She had never worried like this before, not for anyone. "I hope she's fine...I hope...I wonder if she'll die hating me...I hope she doesn't..." then, she resolved that she might talk to Sakura a bit more.

Sasame was anxious. The wedding would be soon, they had gotten prepared very fast. When she walked into Naruto's office stating that it was a week away, both Naruto and Shino (whom she had never heard word from) both asked why so soon. She already had the dress; she had known exactly what she wanted. The flowers were ready, for the florists had toiled hard since it was the Hokage's wedding. Her family was heading down to Konoha where the wedding would be held, and she knew who her bridesmaids would be. A cousin or two, and Sakura if she got back in time.

Neji gazed lazily out the window, watching his new house is built. He was tired of being in the same house as Hinata, and she and Shino were jus as happy he would be moving to another house on the property.

Author's notes: Next chapter is the end.


End file.
